Qatar's New Civil Human Resources Law: A Commentary On The Changes Introduced

On 23 November 2016, Law No. 15 of 2016 with respect to Civil Human Resources (the New Law) repealed Law No. 8 of 2009 with respect to the Human Resources Management Law (the Old Law). Following this, the executive regulations of the New Law (the Executive Regulations) were published in the Official Gazette and became effective as of 30 December 2016.

Both the Old Law and the New Law govern the employment of civil servants of Qatari Ministries, other government agencies, public authorities and institutions. Similarly with the Old Law, the New Law is not applicable to members of the judiciary, employees of the Amiri Diwan, State Audit Bureau, diplomats and consular corps, university lecturers or Qatari Petroleum employees. Additionally, the New Law specifically states that it is not applicable to employees of the Qatar Investment Authority.

The New Law largely upholds many of the previous provisions of the Old Law providing linguistic changes where necessary for clarity. A clear differentiation between Qatari employees and expatriates is evident. This article examines the main changes introduced by the New Law.

Planning and Organisation

As with the Old Law, the New Law details how a government entity should organise itself including, but not limited to, job descriptions, job positions, grading structures and start dates. The New Law provides that the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs will draft a guidebook outlining the description, classification and grading of government sector jobs which must be approved by the Minister of Administrative Development Labour and Social Affairs.

Probation

The New Law upholds the mandatory 3 month probationary period which may be extended for a further 3 months. The Executive Regulations provide that an employee on probation may resign on providing 15 days' notice in writing. The New Law goes on further to clarify that an employee who is reappointed to a similar position or promoted will be subject to a new 3 month probationary period.

Salary, Increments and Allowances

Salary A clear differentiation between Qatari and expatriate employees is evident in relation to salary and grading levels. Qatari employees may now earn a monthly salary of QR 4,600 - QR 65,000 per month depending on their grade, whereas expatriate employees may earn between QR 2,200 - QR 23,000 per month.

Increments Qatari employees are entitled to salary increases of 1% - 6% per year. There is no longer an...